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I don't usually say that, do
I? Let's just, Romans chapter 12, verse number 1 and 2, as
we read, Romans 12, 1, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service, and
be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the
renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and
acceptable and perfect will of God. Let's pray. Pray for help
tonight. Pray for leadership and guidance.
I plead the blood asking just your will be done. Help us to
see truth, get hold of truth, preach truth and practice truth.
We'll thank you for it. I pray for our people that you'll
just do for them that that's needed. I know that there's a
lot of sickness going around and many was mentioned tonight,
sick. I pray you just touch them and
help them and lift them up and touch them and give them the
grace they need. And then for these who've lost their loved
ones, I pray for those families that you'd touch them and give
them grace. I pray for all the requests that
was made tonight, spoken and unspoken, I lift them to you
again. just asking that you'd grant in accordance to your will
and way. I want to thank you for answered prayer this week,
and I'm looking forward to you answering our prayers and the
fact that we sure do need you to meet and manifest yourself
in this place. I long for the day that we can
say, he's heard, he's answered. and we praise him for that, praise
you for that, and we'll thank you for it. Now, I pray for help
tonight, give us the recall we need, let no one quench your
spirit, help the seed to fall on good ground, and we'll thank
you for all you do and praise you for it, and be careful to
give you the glory for it, but we ask it all in Jesus' name,
for his sake we do pray, amen. You may be seated. We're dealing with a series we
picked back up in this series last week on the will of God.
Because you see, Paul wrote that in the book of Hebrews that the
saints, at least the professing ones, would do the will of God.
The will of God. And the word do means to pursue
a course of action towards doing what the will of God is for every
man's life. Now it's hard sometimes to know
what God's will is for your life as far as the unwritten will
is in your life. But we've studied some of the
past weeks and past time about the written will of God. You
see the Bible's got some things laid out that God said this is
the will of God for you. And it's the will of God for
everyone, even the saved. And it's his will that you be
saved. That's the most important one,
that he's not willing any should perish, but all come to repentance.
So it's his will that you be saved. He wills that. I mean,
he desires that's what I'm saying. That's why he went to Calvary.
But the thing about it is, if we're not willing to find the
will of God in our lives that's written, and if we're not willing
to walk in the will of God that we do know in our lives that's
written down, then we'll probably never really fulfill the unwritten
will of God for our lives in the minute degree. and we need
to find the will of God, because that's important. Listen, you're
safe in the will of God. If it's in foreign soil, in the
middle of like going on in Kenya, all those battles, if you're
in the will of God, you're safe there. You're safe anywhere where
you're in the will of God. Doesn't mean that you might not
die, because you might die, but you're still safe. If you're
in the will of God, it'll be okay. In other words, because
he's in control. But now when we think about written
will and the unwritten will. I mean, we know it's God's will
for you to serve the Lord, and I think you know it, I hope you
know that, but where is not written in the book. It does not say
any verse of scripture, not even in Hezekiah, all right, that
Edgar Lee Paschal is supposed to be at New Hope Baptist Church,
okay? You understand what I'm saying?
There's some things in your life you just don't know, and it takes
finding that unwritten will of God for your life, but if you're
willing to walk walk in the written will as much as you can and desire
to have the unwritten will of God in your life that you'd be
in that and it's right in the smack dab center of it, then
you'll find it somewhere along the way. But if you don't do
that, you sure won't find the will of God in your life. So
when we're thinking about the written will of God and the unwritten
will of God, you need to pursue a course of action to find the
will of God for your life. That's God's desire. That's Paul's
desire for the saints. That's my desire for myself and
my desire for you, that you find the will of God. Now, Paul said
this in Philippians chapter one, verse number 10. As he said here,
he's praying for those in the church at Philippi, which was
a Gentile church, but he's praying for them there. And he said,
he's praying that ye may approve things that are excellent, that
ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ.
Now notice that little phrase. I'm praying for you, saints at
Philippi, and it's written to the saints, that you may approve
that which is the things that are excellent. In other words,
the word excellent there means to be of the best value. You
see, sometimes we want to divide things up and say, well, I want
to know what's good and better. But Paul wants you to know what's
best, okay? What's better and best, okay?
There's another word, the excellent. The excellent things, in other
words. Now, he didn't pray for them that they, and by the way,
the word excellent means to be of the best value. Now, Paul
didn't pray for the saints at Philippi to know right from wrong. to find what's right and what's
wrong. Why did he do that? Well, you
say we need to do that. Well, when you get to a certain
place, it's not knowing what's right and wrong. If you're saved,
God's going to show you what's right. In fact, you should have
already been taught in those areas. and you know the will
of God's not to do wrong, you automatically know that, it's
written down for us in that sense. And Paul said this as he wrote
in Romans chapter 2 verse number 18, and he's writing to the Jews
there, he's speaking about the Jews. in context where he said
to the Jews there in Romans 2.18, and he says that you knowest
his will and approvest the things that are more excellent being
instructed out of the law. In other words, Paul said to
the Jews that he's mentioning about, they know. They know something. They even know those excellent
things. They know what's right and wrong for sure. They knew
the difference. In other words, they knew the
written will of God because the Bible said in Romans 3.20, that
they had the oracles of God committed to them. He said there, how about
the advantage that the Jew had? Verse one of chapter three, he
said, much every way, chiefly, because unto them were committed
the oracles of God. And you say, well, that means
they've got more advantage than the Gentiles. Well, in that sense,
they did, but God wanted the Gentiles to come in through the
Jews and get in on the things of God, but he also said this
about the Gentiles. Now, in the book of Romans, chapter
two, Verse number 14 and 15, he said, For when the Gentiles,
which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in
the law, these having not the law, are a law unto themselves,
which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their
conscience also bearing witness in their thoughts, the meanwhile
accusing or else excusing one another. That's the reason people
are religious. That's the reason they offer
sacrifices to idols. There's something inside that's
already moved in them, and he said they know something. Folks,
I want to tell you, people may claim to be ignorant, in a sense,
and they may be ignorant book-wise, but they still know some right
from wrong. I mean, you stop and think a
minute, amen? They know right from wrong, Jew
or Gentile, because God said he put it inside them. The Jews
had the oracles of the word of God, but he said to these, Paul
wrote to the Philippians, he said, I'm praying for you that
you may approve that which is excellent, that which is of the
best value. not what right and wrong, but
something that's superior to all that. In other words, what
he's really talking about, and by the way, the word approve
means to test anything with the expectation of finding it good. To test it, to see if it's worthy
to be received or not, to establish without doubt that what the written
will is. In other words, for your life,
test it, put it to test. Did not the Lord say through
Paul in Acts 17, 11, I believe it was, were that the Bereans
were more noble than they in Thessalonica in that they searched
the scriptures daily, whether these things were so or not?
In other words, you put it to test. You put it to test with
a guideline, the plumb line, to see if it falls where it needs
to fall. And in other words, approved,
established without any doubt, to test it so that you might
whether to take it in or not. And he said, I'm praying for
you that you may know that. In other words, that you may
know the written will of God for your life, but that you also
may know the unwritten will of God for your life. I believe
is what he's trying to tell us there at that point. Now the
word approved, In Philippians chapter 1 verse number 10 is
the same Greek word, a translated prove in Romans chapter 12 verse
number 2 that we read, where he said, be not conformed to
this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind
that ye may prove. The word prove is the same as
where Paul prayed for them to approve that which is excellent.
And he said, I'm writing to you saints in Rome that you may establish
without any doubt what is the unwritten will of God for your
life. He goes on to say that you may prove what is that good
and acceptable and perfect will of God for your life. In other
words, that's more than the written will, that's the unwritten will
of God for your lives. Now you go back and study in
the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel made this statement,
at least God did in Ezekiel in chapter 22, verse number 30,
as he said this, and I sought for a man among them that should
make up the hedge and stand in the gap before me for the land,
that I should not destroy it. But the sad part was, he said,
I found none. And he had to destroy the land
for it. But he's looking for somebody to find the gap to stand
in. Now, you know what a gap is.
I mean, back when I grew up on the farm, my dad most of the
time had gates made out of cypress and there's light. and they lasted,
amen, they wasn't out old, because I couldn't have opened them.
But sometimes you run up on a place where you've got a gap, that's
just a barbed wire, and you lay it down and it gets tangled up
and it just won't work just like it ought to. Y'all know what
I'm talking about, if you've been around on, but anyway, it means an opening
in the fence, okay, whether you put a gate or a gap. He said,
I'm looking for somebody to stand in a gap that I want you in,
and that gap has got to be your perfect, the perfect will of
God for your life. And what you're there for is
to really ward off people that's, to be a roadblock, to be, as
Brother Percy Ray would preach a message, red lights on the
way to hell, to let people know you need to stop. Don't come
this way. Don't go that way, because that
way's nothing but a ravine, or it's danger, it's hell is what
it amounts to. So you're put there to do your
best to try to ward off people. Now, I remember as a boy, Daddy
sometimes would put me in what we called them gates, we didn't
call them gaps, but he'd put me there and them cows scared
me sometimes. I wasn't big enough to ever hit
them off. And then he'd fuss at me for letting them by, you
know. But sometimes he'd say, let this
one by, but not that one. Let this one by, but not that
one. Y'all know what I'm talking about. And you know sometimes
it puts you in fear as you stand there in that gate or that gap
and you're trying to do what you need to do and you know that
something may get by that you don't want to get by. Or you
head the wrong one the wrong way. There's a spiritual message
in that, amen. There's people going, they're
going to get by you sometimes. The best you do, doing the best
you can, they're going to determine maybe to bunch up and run over
you like cows will sometimes, especially hogs, okay, and run
over you to get through the gap. But you see, God didn't call
you to be successful. He calls you to be faithful.
and you've got to find where your gap is. If you found your
gap in life, you say, but I'm not saved. Well, the gap, as
far as your will, the will, the written will is that God wants
you to be saved. But then even while you're seeking
him and while you're going, there's still some things God wants you
to stand in the gap. You got a wife, you got a husband,
you got children. There's some things you need
to stand for and stand against in that gap. Let some things
through, but keep some things from going through, okay, in
that gap. And so, now where is that gap
in your life? That's the unwritten will of
God for your life that you need to know where it's at. Now, you
realize what he said there in Romans chapter 12, verse number
2. He said, be not conformed to
this world, but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind
that you may prove established without any doubt what is the
what? The good, the acceptable, and
the perfect will of God. Spell gap. G-A-P. Good, acceptable, and perfect.
When you find the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God, you've
got your gap that God wants you to stand in. And you need to
find that gap. Good, acceptable, and perfect.
Now the word good means profitable, useful. In other words, spiritually
speaking, what he's talking about here, the word acceptable speaks
of something which is well-tested, well-approved, or satisfactory. It means of extraordinary pleasing. The word perfect means complete
in all parts. So therefore, that gap is God's
unwritten will for your life. It's not written down in Romans,
not written down in any book in the Bible, exactly where your
gap is. But if you'll obey the written
will and follow the written will and come to the place and search
out and seek and find the mind of God, you'll prove, establish
without doubt, what's the good, the acceptable and perfect will
of God for your life. That's the unwritten will of
God and that's where you need to be. I don't care where it's
in Timbuktu or Kalamazoo or off the, a monkey's eyebrow, or devil's
elbow, or possum trot, amen? You see, it doesn't matter where
it's at if that's what God wants you to do. You see, Philip was
in a revival in Samaria, and you'd say, I had a man tell me
one time that I needed to go where I could do the most good,
where you're having the most numbers, I guess is what he was
trying. to say, but that's not so. Philip had to leave Revival,
go out to a desert man and speak to the eunuch out in the desert,
one man out there. And that was the will of God
for Philip. He knew where to go. He stood in his gap. In Revival,
he stood in his gap out there. Now, if you won't stand in the
gap for one, you won't stand in the gap for a whole bunch,
amen? You realize that? I mean, you
take a cow coming at you, you might have a little more bravery
about you to head back one cow, but if you've got about 20 running
at you, you might just get over behind the post and say, let
them have it, daddy, you know, in that sense. And so therefore,
if you won't stand for one, you won't stand for a bunch. You
see the principle of the Ruth principle, remember we said in
chapter 2, Ruth took the handful. She was willing to take whatever
she could get, whether it was gleaning heads or grains around
the field, or heads, or when he reached her parched corn,
she took it. She didn't say, well, I want more, I want this,
no. She sufficed, put it in her pocket, and wound up getting
a whole basket full to carry home. And in chapter 4, she wound
up with a granary. If you'll take the handful that
God gives you by getting in whatever gap it is, then you'll be able
to fill a bigger gap later on, if you please, or God will enable
you to do that, just being in the divine, unwritten will of
God for your lives. Romans chapter 12 verse number
one and two gives a prerequisite for finding that good, the acceptable,
and the perfect will of God. Or for finding the unwritten
will of God for your life. What is the prerequisite there
in Romans chapter 12 verse one and two? Three things. Now we'll
deal with one of them possibly tonight. But first of all, he
said, surrender your bodies. Secondly, he said, be separated
from the world. And thirdly, be spiritually minded. And that's the requirements that
you're going to have to move toward if you're going to find
the unwritten will of God for your life, or the gap God wants
you to stand in. Surrender your body, separate
it from the world, and be spiritually minded. So let's look just at
the first one tonight, being a surrendering of your bodies.
Look at verse 1. What does he say? I beseech you
therefore brethren. Now I know he's talking to the
saints of God, I understand that. But he's saying brethren, by
the mercies of God, he said I beseech you, I beg you that you present
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which
is your reasonable service. Now you notice something there?
I beseech you therefore. Anytime you find a therefore
in the scripture, you need to stop to find out what it's there
for, okay? And it's looking back. Now, sometimes
it looks back to the previous verses. Sometimes it looks back
even further because you see, there's kind of an interjection
in the book of Romans, chapter 9, 10, and 11, is an interjection
here that deals with the principle of sovereignty. And so really,
the therefore, it really points back to chapter 8, where we see
the principle there of sanctification. And when we see that there in
chapter 8, chapter 8, we find it ties back there. In other
words, if you could just leave out Romans 9, 10, and 11 as an
interjection and read chapter 8 and go right into chapter 12,
you'll see he's wanting you to serve him in the gap that God
has for you. Now, in chapter number eight,
verse number 31, 33, 35, and 37, there's questions that God
asks. In other words, Paul asked some
questions there through the inspiration of the Spirit of God, asked them
to the saints of God, I know that. But he said in verse 31,
what shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who
can be against us? He goes on in verse number 33,
he says, who can lay anything to the charge of God's elect?
Verse number 35, he said, who shall separate us from the love
of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or swords?
Can anyone take all of the things that you can come against them
and separate those that's been saved from the love of God? And
he answers that in verse 37, nay, No, in all these things,
we're more than conquerors. We're super conquerors in Him,
through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded, neither death,
nor life, nor principalities, nor powers, nor angels, nor things
present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any
other creature. Ten things. None of those ten
things, which is just a representative lit, can separate us from the
love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. We're secure.
We're safe. Now tie that together with chapter
12, verse 1. He said, I beseech you therefore,
in view of the fact nobody can lay anything to the charge of
God's elect that's gonna count against you if you're really
his. Nobody can, in other words, can separate you from the love
of God. Therefore, he said, in view of
that fact, I beseech you that you surrender your bodies. You
surrender your bodies so that you can prove or test it out. Establish without doubt what's
the gap you're supposed to be in the will of God. In other
words, and that's what he's saying here there, present your bodies. That means surrender your bodies.
Now, 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 19 and 20, he says this about
the saints of God. He said what? Know ye not that
your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you,
which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are
bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your
body and in your spirit, which are God's. 1 Corinthians chapter
3, verse number 16, he said, Know ye not that ye are the temple
of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? The word
for temple there is naos, which is the Holy of Holies, where
the Holy Spirit lives. And he says, Know ye not that
he lives within? and you were bought with a price.
Therefore, he said, you need to present your bodies. You need
to surrender your bodies in that sense of the word presented.
Now here the word present means to offer, to put at one's disposal. It means to place beside. In
other words, it's a term for presenting the Levitical sacrifice
in the Old Testament and the offering that they had to give.
And when they did that, they had to place the offerer, The
one who made the offering had to place his offering so as to
face the Holy of Holies. In other words, he had to face
the Holy of Holies and so doing, he brought it before the Lord
because back there is where the Lord met with the people of the
high priest in those days. Now, look what he said to present.
Present what? A body as a sacrifice. Your body
as a sacrifice. Now, what is a sacrifice? Well,
a sacrifice is an offering of something to deity, to God in
this case, okay? In other words, it means to God.
In this case, the believer is to sacrifice his own body. Now, and you know somebody says,
oh, that's too much, but what did he say about this in the
end of verse 1? This is your reasonable service. It's just
our reasonable service to present our bodies, to surrender our
bodies to the Lord. In case the believer, in this
case, he's talking about sacrificing his own body. Now, oh, you say,
but preacher, that's not right. Well, you sometimes got a wrong
thinking about what it means, but he said that is our reasonable
service, and the word service speaks of priestly service, like
the priest of the Old Testament, who performed the sacred service
of offering the sacrifices, and in so doing that, he met the
requirement of the Levitical law. They had to do it just exactly
like God had ordained, and not like he'd give specifics about,
when they offered those sacrifices, facing the holy of holies. But
here, this is talking about the believer priest, In other words,
he's talking about his sacred service. Presenting our bodies
is just a reasonable service, he said. Well, somebody said,
I'm not a priest. Well, did you know if you're
saved, you are a priest. Bible says this in 1 Peter 2,
5 and 9, two times. He said, you also as lively stones
are built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood. Saints of
God is in holy priesthood for what reason? To offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable unto God to God by Jesus Christ. Verse
9 of I Peter 2 said, You are a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood and holy nation, a peculiar people that you should show forth
the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his
marvelous light. He said you are to offer spiritual
sacrifices. As a priest, you're a believer
priest. If you're saved, you're a believer
priest. He said you're a spiritual, you're
a holy priesthood, you're a royal priesthood. You know what that
means? That means that we are holy and we're royal. That's
talking about we're a priest, but we're also a king priest,
if you please. Now, you go back and study the
priesthood in the Bible. In the beginning, whenever man
first came on earth, as far as who was the priest. The priest
was the one who offered up sacrifices for, first of all, it was the
head of the household. The patriarchs were considered
to be priests, in other words, and they were the head of the
house, was the priest, in other words, until the law was given. And Job chapter 1 verse number
4 and 5, we found an example of this when it said about Job
how he was. He said his sons went and feasted
in their houses every one his day and sent and called for their
three sisters to eat and drink with them. And it was so when
the days of their feasting was gone about that Job sent and
sanctified them and rose up early in the morning and offered burnt
offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, it
may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.
Thus did Job continually. He offered sacrifices for his
family, fulfilling the office of priest for his family. That's
the way God intended for it to be in the beginning. And then,
of course, that was the way it was until Israel. The law came
to Israel, and then Israel was to be a kingdom of priests. The
Bible says this in Exodus chapter 19 verse number 5, he said this,
5 and 6, he said, Now therefore, if you obey my voice indeed and
keep my covenant, he said, then you shall be a peculiar treasure
unto me above all people, for all the earth is mine, and you
shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. In
other words, he said that was the whole, Israel was to be a
kingdom of priests. First the head of the house sold,
law came, God shut it up to Israel to be a kingdom of priests, but
what happened? What really happened is they
violated the law. I mean, Israel violated the law,
and what happened? God shut the priestly office
up to the tribe of Levi. In other words, his descendants
were to be the priests. Now, Jesus, when he died on the
cross, he was not after the tribe of Levi, but he was a high priest
after the priest of Melchizedek had talked about. But at any
rate, whenever he died, what happened? The veil was rent from
top to bottom, opening up the Holy of Holies, exposing that
to every man to see, in a sense, that walked by. And as a result,
he was showing that he, the priesthood, as far as the Levitical priesthood,
had ended. No longer is it that way. Now,
Jesus was the high priest, and so after Pentecost, or after
that time, every priest, he said, you're a royal priesthood, you're
a holy priesthood. In other words, every saint of
God is a priest today, and priests have responsibilities to offer
up sacrifices, okay? That's what it amounts to. And
so therefore, that's what we are. If you're saved, you're
a priest, and therefore, he said that we need to surrender our
bodies. Now, the chief privilege of the priest was to have access
to God in the holiest of holy, back there, the holy of holies.
And you know something? We have access through our high
priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's at the right hand of the
Father. Hebrews chapter number four, verse number 16, 14 through
16, he said, that we have a great high priest
that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us
hold fast our profession, for we have not an high priest which
cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but was in
all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us
therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may
obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. He said,
for every saint of God we can boldly Come right in the presence
of God, in the throne room of God, and have access. That's
the privilege that the priest has. But also there's a responsibility
of priest, and that responsibility was to offer up sacrifices. Offer
up sacrifices. And you and I, if you're saved
by the grace of God, you've got a responsibility to offer up
sacrifices tonight. You say, what means sacrifices? Well, Hebrews 13, 15, he said
this, By him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise
to God continually, that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks
to his name. Not just being thankful, but
let a fruit of our lips give thanks to his name. Well, we've
got a lot to be thankful for, amen? We've got a lot to be thankful
for, and we're not as thankful as we ought to be. And if you're
saved, he said, your lips ought to be offering sacrifice. And that's a responsibility you
have, of giving thanks to his name. In everything give thanks,
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
He also said in Hebrews chapter 13 verse number 16, but to do
good and to communicate, forget not, for with such sacrifices
God is well pleased. As a royal priesthood and as
a holy priesthood, we are priests and we have a responsibility
to communicate, which means to share what God has given us with
others. It's not talking about just financial
means. And that's part of it. But listen,
when you get in the book and find the nugget and come together
in the great congregation and something's done you good, and
you say, but they already know it. But tell it again. It'll
help me. It'll help you. It'll help me
if you get saved. I want to tell you what I found
today. I found this nugget. I found that nugget. I want to
tell you that'll help me. Let me know you're digging. Amen.
You say, well, you already know. It don't matter. It don't matter
whether we know it or not. thanks of our, fruit of our lips
is praise unto God, thanksgiving unto God, and also to communicate,
share what God's given us. That's the responsibility of
the priest to offer up our sacrifice. I'm talking about now. You and
I that are saved by the grace of God have that responsibility.
And then in Romans 12, 1, what we read for our text tonight,
he said, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that you present your bodies a living sacrifice. Living sacrifice,
that means your own body is to be a sacrifice unto the Lord,
presented to Him, right in the Holy of Holies, face to face
to Him. Now, all priests offered sacrifice,
always have, and there are today. And Paul said, What the Lord
has done for you, I beg you. What He's protected you with,
what He's given you that security, I beg you that you offer up your
bodies as a sacrifice. But preacher, that's too much
for me. That's just asking too much.
Listen, Paul said it's just your reasonable service. And that
word reasonable means it's not extreme. It's not beyond reason. It's rational. It's logical,
if you please. You say, but oh, preacher, the
day of sacrifice is over. Well, the day of dead sacrifices
are, but I look out sometimes and see people, and I wonder
if they're not still in effect, amen? You realize something,
you look at people and you see the way some act, and we sing
the national anthem of the Baptist, I shall not be moved, and you
sit there, you're offering up dead sacrifice, amen? Some of
you don't even sing when we sing, amen? You ought to be trying
to do something. You say, but I'm not saved. He put a song
in your heart. If you claim the name of Christ,
you ought to be saying something, amen? And it wouldn't hurt you
to go to bed a little before time, amen? Get in practice a
little bit, amen? But at any rate, he said we're
to offer a sacrifice, not a dead sacrifice, but a living sacrifice. He said, present your bodies
a living sacrifice. Now, living means living in contrast
to the slain offerings or the dead sacrifices of the Old Testament
time. Alive in Christ. We're alive
in Him. And therefore, what should live
saints do as priests? Well, as presenting your body,
what should you do? Well, you should give a living
sacrifice, attend church, amen, just attend church. In other
words, it's one thing, Hebrews 10, 25, he said, not forsaking
the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but
exhorting one another in so much the more as you see the day approaching.
He also says study. Bible said in 2 Timothy chapter
2 verse number 15, study to show thyself approved unto God a workman
that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of
truth. Folks, if you don't study, you're
not going to come up. I'm not talking about just reading.
You need to read, but you need to study too. You need to do
that. We've got a lot of books back there to help divide some
things up. We try to go back to them a lot of times to find
out what it says. You want to know what a verse
says, get one of those books down and we try to break it down
for you where you can take it. And I can't remember everything
I've preached or studied about 10 years ago, 5 years ago. I
can't remember. I get it down to yesterday, I
probably don't remember some things, okay? Y'all know what
I'm talking about, but study. He also says pray, presenting,
I'm talking about living sacrifice. Pray, what a living, living in
contrast to being slain alive. What do we do? We study, we attend
church, we pray. I'm just sort of hitting the
surface. But the Bible says, and pray in your closet, Matthew
6, 6, I hear the Lord said this in Matthew, But thou, when thou
prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou shalt the door,
pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which
seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. Psalm 91.1, he said,
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall
abide under the shadow of the Almighty. It means to spend the
night with Him alone, a little while alone with Him somewhere
in quiet time, can spend the night through the storm, even
if the tornado comes through. In other words, you can have
peace under the shadow of the Almighty. And then you pray without
ceasing. Not only in the closet, but pray
without ceasing. That's what he said in the book
of 1 Thessalonians 5, 17, pray without ceasing. That just simply
means being in an attitude of prayer. Somebody said, well,
you can't be on your knees all the time. That's not what it's
talking about. It means to be in an attitude of prayer is what
it's talking about. And by the way, prayer is part
of the armor of God. If you want to really have some
victory, you're going to have to get in prayer. Ephesians 6,
18, listen to what he said, praying always. After he told you to
armor with the whole armor of God, he said, praying always
with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, and watching thereunto
with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. So what is
he saying? Surrender your bodies as a living
sacrifice. But it's also, he said there
in Romans 12, one, not only living, but a holy sacrifice. The word
holy means to set apart, it means to be blameless. It corresponds
with the Old Testament word where it said that the sacrifice had
to be without blemish. You realize when they put up
that animal there in Moses' day, they put him up on the tenth
day of the month. and scrutinized him for four days. They had to
feel that animal to see if there's any blemish or imperfection in
that animal. Jesus was tested for three years
of his earthly ministry to see if there's any blemish in him
and they found no gout in his mouth. Nothing on the outside,
but folks, I'm gonna tell you, that animal had to be slain and
that knife had to go down inside the joint and the marrow down
inside to see if there's some pocket of infection somewhere.
If it was found, it wasn't qualified to be a sacrifice. And he said,
present your bodies a holy sacrifice, set apart. In other words, do
that. Now you say, well, how do you
do that? Paul said, present your body holy. In other words, that
means inside and outside. Well, it's not just this bless
God attitude that some of the legalistic have of the outside,
but it's cleansed first that which is inside that the outside
may be clean also. Holy presented, holy inside and
outside. How do you do that? Talking right,
talking right. That's what comes out of your
mouth. Didn't you know that? In other words, that's what comes
out of your mouth. What's in your heart? What's on the inside?
Mark chapter seven, verse number Verse number 21 and 23 says this,
he said, for from within out of the heart of man proceed evil
thoughts, adulteries, fornication, murder, stealth, covetousness,
wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride,
foolishness, all these evil things come from within and defile the
man. You see, God wants us to present
our bodies living but holy, and if we don't talk right, it's
sin. We're not clean on the inside. If we don't talk right, James
chapter number three, verse number 10 through 12, he said this,
he said, out of the same mouth proceedeth blessings and cursing.
My brethren, these things ought not to be. Doth a fountain send
forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig
tree, my brethren, bear olive berries, either of vine figs?
So can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh? In other
words, you ought to talk right. If you want to present a holy
sacrifice, The talk's got to be right and the dress has got
to be right. 1 Timothy 2, 9, what did he say? In like manner also that women
adorn themselves in modest apparel with shamefacedness and sobriety,
not with broaded hair or gold or peril or costly array. In
other words, he said in like manner, points back to verse
number 8 where he talks about the men to lift up holy hands.
Holy hand, not just outside but inside. In other words, without
wrath and doubting. In other words, it's talking
about dressing right men and women with shamefacedness. The
word shamefacedness means bashfulness or modesty. It's talking about
dressing modestly is what it means. And he said with sobriety.
The word sobriety means soundness of mind. It means sanity. It
means some common sense with self-control. with common sense.
Man, it's just good sense in dressing is what he's talking
about. If you won't present your bodies a holy sacrifice, he said,
talk right, dress right, and walk right. Philippians chapter
1 verse number 27, he said this in Philippians 1 27, He said,
only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of
Christ. The word conversation is not
just you talk, it's you walk. It means your manner of living
in the old English word for that. And he said, let you walk in
such a way and let your manner of life be such that would add
to or strengthen the gospel. That's what it means to become
a something. And you ever looked at your wife, said, honey, that
dress becomes you, amen. Might help us if we do that more,
amen. That means that it adds to your beauty and your strength
in that sense. And he said, let your manner of living add to
or strengthen the gospel as it goes out into a lost and a dying
world. Walking right, and then you need
to think right. What's your thinking process?
Some of you right now, you wouldn't want it put on the screen what
you're thinking right now, amen? I mean, I know the devil shoots
fiery darts, I understand that, but listen what the Bible said.
He said in Philippians chapter four, verse number eight, finally,
brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest,
whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things
are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there
be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things.
And it just hit my mind, if you're gonna think on these things,
you probably don't even need to watch the news about the election
results yesterday, amen? And all that they said, you understand,
on both sides. I mean, but still, he said you
need to think right, walk right, talk right, dress right, and
think right. That's offering a holy sacrifice. If we want
to find the gap, the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God, we've
got to meet the prerequisite or at least be striving to do
that. And when we rebel against that, there's something wrong
if you claim the name of Christ. Something's wrong, amen, because
the Holy Spirit's inside if you're really saved, and he's going
to guide you into all truth. And then he also offered that
sacrifice, how? Living, holy, acceptable. Three
ways there you offer your body, surrender your bodies. Living,
holy, acceptable sacrifice. Now, you realize something, God
would not accept a sacrifice if it was blemished. Now I know
sometimes the priests, they all got in cahoots with the money
changers and the sheep market people and they had let them
sell blemished sheep and they'd take them in, but God wasn't
for that. That's why Jesus cleansed the temple those two times that
he cleansed it, because they was doing it wrongly, what they
were doing. And as a result, they would sell diseased animals,
and this priest said, I'll take it, to get a little kickback
from the market, is what he was doing. In other words, that was
wrong. God, though, will not accept it. You know, the so-called
priest in the Old Testament time may have accepted it, but not
God. You know what? Preachers may accept what you
do, and may tell you that you're okay and this type of thing,
but listen, that's not the one you're gonna have to stand and
give an account to one day. You understand? It's not me you've
got to give an account to. You're going to have to give
an account to God one day. And you realize something, you
need to be acceptable. In other words, in the Old Testament
time when that high priest went into the Holy of Holies, it's
not in the Bible. We do know in the Bible he had
pomegranates and bells around the bottom. I don't know, we
know that around, that tells about that, but also they tell
us according to secular history that they put a rope around their
leg because nobody else could enter into that Holy of Holies.
So when they went back in there, as they were standing around
waiting to see if God was going to accept their sacrifice and
roll their sin away one more year at a time, as the priest
ministered in the holy place, the bells was ringing as he went
on inside the Holy of Holies, back inside the Holy of Holies
where the Ark of the Covenant is, and he had to go back in
there and turn Plum around And as he did, those bells would
ring. Someone said that they put a rope on his leg in case
God didn't accept the sacrifice. If he didn't do it like God said,
he died in there. And they couldn't go in after
him until they pulled him out with a rope out from under the
curtain. That's not Bible, I understand. But the fact is, that's what
has been accepted according to history that happened. Why? Because
God required a sacrifice to be acceptable, and if he didn't,
the high priest, if he didn't do it just right. He died. I don't know of any record of
one ever dying, but that's what God said would happen. I won't
tell you, our Lord did everything just right. And he accepted and
God accepted his sacrifice and he sat down at the right hand
of the Father, but he said, you need to present your bodies an
acceptable sacrifice. It's got to be acceptable. In
other words, satisfactory or well-pleasing. Now, how do you
do that? Confess your sin. Confess your sin, 1 John 1.9.
He said if we confess our sin, that means to agree with God
about we've sinned, not just made a mistake, but we've sinned
and repentance is involved in that to get back where we need
to be. But confess that if we confess our sin, He is faithful
and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all righteousness,
unrighteousness, and therefore we're acceptable. as a sacrifice,
as a body before God. If we confess our sin, but not
only confess, and by the way, you confess the sin of omission,
you confess the sin of commission. And you confess three ways, like
you sin, you sin privately, personally and publicly. If you sin privately,
you confess privately. and it's where it ought to stay.
You don't have to tell everybody about it. You don't have to deify
for your sin. And if it's personal, you go to the individuals that
you've wronged, and you confess to them, and it stays there.
It ought not to be carried any further. But if it's publicly,
it's going to have to be confessed publicly. And it doesn't mean
you've got to give the gory details of it. You can just say I've
sinned. But when you confess it, agree with God it's sin,
and you confess it publicly, then God has brought you to a
place to where you've got an acceptable sacrifice. of a body
to present to him. And then also, you not only confess
your sin, but you forsake it. Proverbs 28, 13, he said, he
that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but who so confesseth
and forsaketh them shall have mercy. You see, He said, if you
cover it, now, you'll not prosper. It's not talking about financially.
That's not what it's talking about. In other words, if you
cover it, you'll not prosper and God might just kill you if
you're his. And in fact, if you continue and God puts his finger
on it and you say, one more time, and you do it one more time,
you're going to have a sin unto death, 1 John 5, 16 talks about. And you might just die like the
Old Testament. A priest said that he would do
it. You say, but preacher, that's too much to ask from me. No,
no, no. The Word of God said that's just
your reasonable service. Present your bodies. Surrender
your bodies. A must, if you ever want to stand
in the gap, God's has for you. In other words, I'm talking about
the unwritten will, if you really want that. You're going to have
to yield your spirit, soul, and body to him completely. Not only
be saved, but say, Lord, I want you to tell me how to dress,
how to walk, and how to act. But you see, we don't want that,
do we? Our own flesh don't want it. We want to do what we want
to do. And the reason many people want to do what they want to
do is because they've never, never been changed, never been converted.
Amen. And not really his. But he's
talking here about his. I want you to present your bodies
a living sacrifice wholly. acceptable unto God, which is
your reasonable service. And if you'll do that, if you'll
do that, and meet the prerequisite. Now, there's surrender your body,
separated from the world, and a spiritual mind, spiritually
minded. If you'll walk in that and try
to fulfill that, you'll find your G-A-P, the gap, your good,
the acceptable and perfect will of God. I'm talking about the
unwritten will of God for your life. And blessed is that man.
Oh, happy is that man. Spiritually prosperous is that
man. And may the Lord help us to find the unwritten will of
God for our life and pursue a course of action. to get walk in it,
and we'll see great things in the days ahead. May the Lord
help us. Father, I pray you'd speak to our hearts and help
us to be sensitive to you. Lord, do that that's needed in
our midst. We don't even know what we need, what needs to be
done. We don't even know our own needs
many times because our old hearts are deceitful and desperately
wicked. Lord, there's so many people need to be saved. There's
so many need to be drawn. So I pray that you'd help the
saints of God to surrender their bodies, to yield themselves,
hook, line, and sinkers, the old expression is. hook, line,
and sinker to you as their, in other words, a sacrifice, living
sacrifice, holy sacrifice, acceptable sacrifice, so that they may find
their gap, the good, the acceptable and perfect will of God in their
lives and walk therein. and fulfill the purpose of God
in their lives. And we'll thank you for what
you do. Help us tonight, and let no one quench your spirit.
Save some souls, speak to some heart. Lord, do a work in our
midst that you might get glory, and we'll praise you for what
you do, for we ask it all in Jesus' name. For his sake we
do pray. Heads bowed, eyes closed, altars
opened. Will you mind the Lord as she plays?
The Will Of God#9
Series The Will Of God
| Sermon ID | 1026241836185340 |
| Duration | 46:27 |
| Date | |
| Category | Midweek Service |
| Bible Text | Romans 12:1-2 |
| Language | English |
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